


Phantom gets a Cupcake

by Omicron_The_IceQueen



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: falling out of the card
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 18:43:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/788992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omicron_The_IceQueen/pseuds/Omicron_The_IceQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Story is Co-Authored by Dragon Claw92 [who doesn't have an account here]and Omicron The IceQueen [me!].</p><p>Sometimes... you're just having a bad day. So much that you fall out of your card. This Phantom would like a new suit now too, please... hey, his master is kind of cute- what's that thing on wheels? And what is the pink thing? Cupcake?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Queen’s notes: Okay, quick note, Cassidy is something I made up, a Paper-Witch, a modern caster that evolved within the last 200 years from wood\frost type casters, so 'new' but in their field strong. Though all things considering even being a white-witch ['good'] their not all that strong in comparison to other casters and mages. 
> 
> This is an AU story based on another that DC and I are working on, ‘Isis, This Isn’t Egypt’ will come out after another go through for editing. This scenario though not fitting into that story was just too good to pass up so here you are! Please enjoy the read. 
> 
> Cassidy and The Kar are both my characters
> 
> DC’s notes: Pretty much summed up by Queen, actually. Tonio’s my little creation, and I loves him dearly, even when he tries to be annoying. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it lots!

Coming awake was good and bad. Good, yes, for he wasn't dead and not in the Graveyard. But a lot of things hurt, and he was face down in the grass...? Yep this was grass he was on and it was painfully bright in the mortal spring sun. Among all the different things going on and aching, was the feeling of something on top of the Monster, sitting on his back the something was warm but oddly light at the same time.

The something, rather someone was humming while using the Monster's own hat to fan his face and make a semi cool breeze on his crimson skin.

It took him a little while to really register what was going on. Most of what he could understand was grass, obnoxiously bright sunlight, a pounding headache, and something waving at his head, pushing air past his face. "Nrgh..." He mumbled dazedly before coughing. He was in too much pain to talk, and too dazed to care if he made stupid noises. He just hoped that whoever was sitting on him wasn't going to try taking him for 'round two'. The first go at it was bad enough.

The hat was withdrawn, placed on the someone's head for now before small hands pressed down to rub at the Monster's neck, under his tangled hair, that itself would help but there was also the feeling of warm magic of a healing spell. "You okay?"

He didn't do much at first, but when he felt the magic he jerked a little, wincing because of his own movement. "Urg... um... yeah, I think so..." He mumbled. "Where... am I right now? I know there's the term 'knocked clean to Cleveland', but... I sincerely hope that isn't real..."

"Not that far, just to Bellingham," A girl's voice said, still rubbing in the light spell. "Stop jerking, you're going to hurt yourself more."

He shivered a little. "Sorry... wait... Bellingham... hm..." He quieted down as he just let the girl work the magic into his skin. "...this might be a stupid question... what's your name?" He coughed, wincing again as he did so. "Uhg... whoever hit me... hit me reeeaaaal good..."

The fingers tried to tease out some of the tangles in his hair, "Cassidy. You kind of...fell out of my Deck..." She tried to explain.

"I... fell out of your deck..." He repeated, opening his black eyes and trying to look at her, though he didn't give it a grand effort, considering the ouch-factors involved with moving. "... so... that must mean you're my mistress, eh Dolly?"

"Dolly?" The human blinked several times at that, having been called a wide range of things but not that. She shifted on his back and leaned over the phantom's shoulder, pulling back his currently white hair, while her own long braid rested on her back, to look at him in the eyes, if a bit upside down.

He squinted at her a bit, letting his eyes adjust a little more before he opened them a little wider. "Dang... you're a cute one too...I really lucked out..." He mumbled under his breath before saying a little louder. "Nice to meet you, Dolly... the name's Tonio."

She squeaked softly and flushed at his first comment, "Um... nice to meet you too?"

"Glad to hear it..." He said with a small smile. "So... you're a magic person... yeah? I could feel something going on earlier that wasn't painful, so I figure you were doing something."

"It was a light healing spell... I'm a paper witch." She said, hesitating a bit, "I wasn't sure if it would work so I didn't want to do something bigger."

"A... paper witch...?" He repeated curiously, "Haven't heard of that one before... well, whatever the case, thanks. I feel a fair bit better already."

"I think you need a date with some conditioner... and a few hair brushes," Cassidy said leaning back and lifting a tangled lock of hair. She looked down, adding, "...and a washing machine."

"Oh geez... am I that much of a mess?" He asked awkwardly. "Sheesh, normally I never let myself get this out of joint... uhg... half my style is looking classy..."

"Kinda," Cassidy nodded as she shifted to sit up on her knees and pressed her fingers into his right shoulder, for that looked a _bit_ worse off then the other... and yep, "Um, this is going to hurt..."

Tonio blinked a little. "Eh, what?" He asked, blinking slowly before grimacing. "Ehm... okay then."

The black haired girl didn't give the Monster much time to think about it before having to pretty much jump on him, forcing the joint back into place along with a small spike of magic. She already had a buffer up incase Tonio was vocal about getting his arm back in the right angle.

It was a good thing she put up a buffer, because he let out a sharp yell before clenching his jaw. "G-geez, wh-what did you just do?!" He half exclaimed, half spluttered through his gritted teeth.

"I put your shoulder back together from being shattered," Cassidy said calmly, working on another, now stronger healing spell to rub into that same shoulder, "I _said_ that it was going to hurt."

"Y-yeah... thanks for the heads up..." He breathed, relaxing his jaw as he tried to make the rest of himself lose the tension that wasn't likely to be leaving any time soon. "Shikes that hurt... b-but... thanks, Dolly... Glad'ja fixed it..." He sounded genuine enough, and likely was, but the fact that he was probably biting back a few curse words made it a little hard to tell.

"I _think_ that's the last big spot..." Cassidy said as she looked around on the white jacket back she was still sitting on, "You can move your neck? Twitch and flex fingers and toes?"

He paused to consider what she said before moving his fingers. "Got my fingers and toes working reasonably, I think..." He shifted and moved his head a little, wincing afterwards. "Neck... not so cooperative..."

After she was done, the girl scooting closer, parted his hair and carefully felt section by small section starting at the base of his skull, "I think I found it, a vertebra out of place..." She winced, oh this was going to be tricky.

"...let me guess; more ouch." He concluded with a small grimace. "I'm a little more prepared for it this time..."

"It won't hurt at all!"

"Well... if you're sure..." Tonio responded, seeming a little too gullible to really know that this was really going to sting. Cassidy 'jumped' again, there was a stronger flair of magic and then his spine was completely snapped back into place and tendons, muscles and nerves fitted and 'clicked' back into place as well. The Phantom let out a howl this time, forcing back tears as he choked out. "I-I thought y-you said th-this w-wouldn't hurt!"

"I lied," Cassidy said wincing, "You can't be tensed up for a true healing."

"You... coulda just said that..." He coughed out, eyes squeezed shut as he lay there. "...anything else busted wh-while we're at it?"

"I already fixed your leg, ribs, hip, butt, shoulder and now spine...unless something is hiding it's just muscle damage that need to heal more or less normally." Cassidy said.

"Well... that's good, at least." Tonio replied, shaking his head a little before relaxing and closing his eyes. "At least I won't be a broken mess now, which is certainly a lot better than how I was before... thanks, Dolly."

The human crossed her legs as Cassidy stayed on her odd spot on top of the Monster. Partly having to keep her small barrier against attention up, she pulled off the too big hat and started to fan Tonio again, "What happened to you? I get to see my fuzzballs and puppies now and then but I don't think any other Monster has...fallen out of his card before."

The Phantom shivered slightly as he recalled it. "I was just mindin' my own business, when some dirty great dragon lands behind me and starts attacking. Considering how high on the scary meter those are and how high I'm _not_ , I tried runnin' and, well, the next thing I know I'm getting walloped in the back with what was probably that thing's tail, and I get bounced off a cliff face. I kinda blacked out after that though, so now I'm here. I figure when I hit the ground, or before I did, something weird happened and I showed up here. I'm not complainin' though; I'd rather be here than be dead."

"I guess its a good thing you did come to me, instead of someone that would have passed out." The paper witch tilted her head, "Or spazzed...or... yeah lets not think about that." She sighed and started to fan again. "At least its not winter and raining hard?"

"I take it some of the humans around here aren't as open to helping as you are?" Tonio inquired. He then paused before adding. "And yeah, that's definitely a good thing. Rain... not so much of a fun thing to be in the middle of when you're flat on the ground."

"Kind of surprised its as dry as it right now." Cassidy said looking around and then added, "Its not so much that but they're not used to seeing magic or non-humans."

"Ah... well, that makes sense." He responded, thinking it over a bit. He then blinked. "You mean normally it's soakin' wet here?"

"In the winter it is, it rains, it doesn't snow much." Cassidy pulled back his hair to look him in the eyes, "Feel up to trying to sit up at least now? Or do you need another healing spell in your back?"

The Phantom opened his eyes and glanced at her when she moved his hair. "I can probably sit up now... well, I could if you weren't on me." He gave a small half-smirk as he said this, seeming a bit amused.

"If you can't get up or do a push up with me- I think you're out of shape." Cassidy said dryly as she edged to one side to slide the odd inches to sit in the grass on her knees.

"I just didn't want to knock you off." Tonio responded, rolling onto his back and pushing himself into a sitting position. He seemed a bit stiff, but if he was hurting, he was good at hiding it. "It's just rude to knock a lady over, am I right Dolly?"

"Yes," Cassidy lifted a hand to push back a lock of black hair and a feather out of her face before shading her eyes to look up at the Phantom. She tilted her head to one side and then another, then looked down at a card she pulled out of her pocket, "Why is your hair white but blond in this?" She finally asked holding up the card to show Tonio.

The Phantom eyed the card before laughing a little. "What'd you expect, Dolly? If everyone looked the same, the Shadow Realm would be boooooriiiing... well, as far as lookin' at people goes anyway. Nah, we don't all look the same as what the cards show."

"But you were blond, then pale, then white..." The baffled human said, and then, "What... okay never mind. I have a brother that's a bird I can deal with _this_."

Tonio blinked at what she said. "Your brother... is a bird." He repeated. "How the heck does that work? You aren't one of 'em Harpie Ladies, are ya?" He sounded a little uneasy when he mentioned Harpie Ladies. Perhaps he'd had a few run-ins with them that were less than pleasant.

"Clan brother," Cassidy explained and pointed to her right to where several black crows were chattering happily about their day, talking about the funny looking 'tall-man' and wasn't it a shame he wouldn't be food, but also it was cute that he was being nice to the little paper witch.

The Phantom raised an eyebrow as he looked up at the birds. "... oooh'kay then." He said, sounding confused, but seeming like he'd decided not to question it. "So... you have a fair few 'brothers' then?"

"Raven and cows? Not may, but only one that was hatched when I was born." The human pulled her bag closer and flipped the strap over her shoulder, habit of keeping it and the paper it held close. Though she didn't think she needed to worry about the phantom... yet he was still a lot taller than Cassidy was, even sitting.

"Okay, now I'm confused." Tonio commented, his perplexion obvious as he thought it over. "Your 'brother' is a crow... yet the rest of them aren't? ... never mind. I'll just noodle it through later." He shook his head, brushing some of his hair out of his face with his fingers before glancing around a little. "It is really bright here..."

"It's spring," The girl said and pointed up, "And not much cloud cover."

"I noticed that." He responded, squinting as he looked up at the sky. "I'm just more used to thick clouds covering the sky and no big orb glaring down at me in all it's shininess."

Cassidy leaned over to tug at the nearer white sleeve, "Don't stare at it, you'll go blind."

The Phantom quickly looked down and shook his head a little. "Yeah, I'm seein' that, Dolly... there's dots in my eyes and they ain't going away..." He blinked rather quickly now, trying to get rid of the dreaded dots. "There we go."

"Where did you come from Tonio?" Cassidy asked after giving him a chance to deal with the uncomfortable side effect of looking at the sun.

He glanced at her quizzically. "From the same place the rest of us Duel Monsters come from; the Shadow Realm. Didn't you know that?"

"You're the first that's come out of a card that can talk." The paper witch arched up an eyebrow.

"I am, eh? Well, that's neat." He stretched a little before fussing with part of his hair. "Cool to know I'm the first one." He paused, thinking a bit before asking. "You do much Monster summoning, dolly?"

"Only when I need cuddles," Cassidy admitted looking down or away, "Or when Morgan and I don't want to leave the house to check for baddies."

"Ah." Tonio responded, thinking it over a bit. "Well, that makes sense I s'pose." He paused before blinking and laughing quietly. "Cuddles? I think you're the first summoned I've heard of who summons a monster just to get cuddles."

"...what's wrong with cuddles?" Cassidy flushed as she demanded that. "Everyone needs them."

"There's nothing wrong with cuddles." Tonio replied with a small laugh. "I've just never heard of anyone doing that before. Normally when someone summons a Monster, they generally do it to fight."

"I wouldn't want fight in anything...other than video games and just cards." Cassidy squeaked.

"Video games?" He inquired, seeming rather curious.

"Their...um...games..." Cassidy blinked back at the Monster, paused and then frowned, "Wait, do you know much about the... this world?"

Tonio shrugged. "I know a little, but not a great deal. Certainly more than some people I know though, so I'm not too poorly off, I figure."

"Huh... okay, well, I think there still might be some culture shock." The girl muttered the last part, she looked down and then her eyes grew wide, staring fixedly at the massive garden spider crawling on her skirt, heading for the loose hem of her shirt.

Tonio didn't notice, his expression thoughtful. "Eh, there's always something like that to make life interesting, right Dolly?"

"Oh-RAVEN!" The girl cried behind him, leaping up to her feet and flailing to get the spider off of her person, flailed some more and had herself a good freak out dance.

The spider didn't come off.

Tonio just blinked with surprise as he turned and looked at her. "...eh ...are you okay, Dolly?" He asked, seeming rather confused at what was going on.

"Get it off! Getitofplease!" the girl cried, trying to get the suborn spider off.

The Phantom seemed confused, but soon figured out what she was freaking out about, and with a light flick of his hand, had not only taken the spider off, but sent it whizzing off several feet away. "Problem solved?" He asked casually, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

Cassidy popped off her over shirt, shaking it out and checking herself over carefully, including briefly checking under the hem of her skirt. Once that was done and no more spiders were found she sighed.

"Not a fan of spiders?" He asked with faint amusement. "Remind me not to take you home with me sometime. They're a bit more intimidating where I'm from." He grimaced as he said this, as though recalling a memory that hadn't been pleasant.

"I'm allergic to them." Cassidy all but wilted, rubbing her left arm in memory, "It sucks to be bit!"

"Ah, well that's a good reason to not like them." Tonio responded, thinking it over a bit. "That makes the whole thing a lot less funny than I thought it was."

"Yes, sort of does," Cassidy tugged her braid as if checking for spiders on it or the attached feathers. "Um... subject change!"

The Phantom gave a small nod, humming thoughtfully. "Um... new topic, I've never been good at coming up with those..." He looked around to try and figure something out. "... uh..." He then blinked. "... where is my hat?"

Cassidy picked it up from where she dropped the hat, brushing it off of stray bits of grass and then held it up for the taller Monster, "Not far, here."

"Ah, thanks Dolly." He responded, accepting is hat and sighing contentedly as he put it back on his head. "There, I feel loads better already. Nothing quite beats having a good hat, you know?"

There was a giggle from the young woman, "I'll stick to my feathers, though it is a cool hat."

Tonio chuckled quietly as he nodded. "It sure is. Was expensive too. Replacing hats is craaazy sometimes. I don't even want to know how much those Dark Magicians have to pay to replace theirs."

"I think theirs might be armored." Cassidy smiled, though was pretty sure Tonio's own hat had at least a plate considering how heave it was.

"They are." He agreed. "Very much armored... it hurts when one of them swats you with theirs..." He seemed almost to wince at the memory. "I had a migraine for half the week after that..."

Cassidy blinked at that, "You need better painkillers," she said, and took a moment to think about it before dividing that maybe it would be a good idea to mention to the Monster that she had not one but two Dark Magician cards that found her. Nor that though he was the first speaking monster, now and then the paper witch could hear soft whispers of other casters.

The Monster nodded a little. "Yeah, probably... though, I'm not sure if anyone in this world would have the sort of meds powerful enough to get rid of that sort of ouch factor. It don't help much that Dark Magicians are waaay higher on the 'scary meter' than I am."

"Scary meter?" Cassidy asked, blinking at the Phantom, "..." she looked at Tonio's card, having a feeling what that might be.

He seemed amused. "Normally I've heard people call it a Monster's 'level', but I figure the 'scary meter' is a good term for it too." He indicated the stars near the top of his card. "That's my level. A Dark Magician is... at least three levels higher than me. Thus, they are higher on the scary meter."

"I get it," The girl smiled, "So whoever literally hit you into this week, was much higher on the scary scale too?"

The Phantom laughed a little as he nodded. "Yep. Red-Eyes Black Dragons are definitely higher on the scary meter than me." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "And they hit harder than a Magician's hat does."

"Yeah, considering you had a broken foot, legs, shoulder, spine and hip..." Cassidy said dryly, arching a dark eyebrow up and smiling a bit as she just healed all of those mentioned things, "I hope that's not normal for you..."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Eh, it depends on the day, really. Mostly it doesn't get that crazy though, honest... of course, mostly I'm not in Red Eyes territory..."

"How are you still alive than?" the woman asked worried, reaching out to touch Toni's closer hand. "Damn, you should get at least a cupcake for that."

The Monster grinned. "I'm just really luck-wait..." He blinked, his grin fading as he looked at Cassidy with utter confusion. "What the heck is a cupcake? Is it like a trophy or something?"

She really shouldn't have done it, knowing the fact that Tonio wasn't from her world, but at the same time the thought that there was a place without cupcakes... Cassidy squeaked softly as she gave a short gasped, staring up at the not quite man as if he just said he ate puppies and ravens.

Tonio blinked a few times, seeming rather confused by her reaction. "Uhm... did I say something wrong, Dolly? I'm a little confused."

"You've never had a cupcake before?" Cassidy asked back instead, "At all?"

He shook his head, still seeming rather perplexed as he raised an eyebrow. "No... Should I have? I may have missed the memo somewhere."

"For the crap you just went through..." The paper witch made of her mind, grasping the mech's hand and despite that tiny voice in the back of her mind ("I think I'm lower on this scary scale than _him_!"), pulled to get the phantom to fallow her, "You deserve a cupcake..."

...or, Cassidy _tried_ to pull the Monster. She wasn't quiet that strong to physically move even this Monster if he didn't want to.

Luckily for her, Tonio was willing enough to follow her. "You still haven't explained what a cupcake is though..." He protested awkwardly, his curiosity at the mysterious wonder of a cupcake blatantly obvious.

"Its a cake!" The girl explained, "Only just for you, cup sized. A cupcake."

Her explanation didn't seem to help him that much. "...what's a cake?"

This time Cassidy gasped outright, stopping to stare up at the taller phantom.

Tonio blinked a few times as he looked down at her, his expression showing utter confusion. "... I take it I'm really missing out on something now?" He asked.

"...I think its a very good I have wedding leftovers..." Cassidy finally announced, dark chocolate eyes wide. "We're having an impromptu picnic. Even if is it does end up raining."

._.

Somewhere, a dimension away, and within the safety of his castle, The Dark One, the first Dark Magician looked up from pointing something out in a book to the red robed Monster beside him, "I do not know why Jafar, but I have the feeling something bad might happen in the near future..."

The red-robed Magician glanced at him and grimaced as he nodded. "You have that feeling as well? Perhaps it is a sign of things to come. Not a fun consideration."

"A bad omen indeed." The slightly taller caster agreed as he looked up, in the vague direction of the mortal world, hair so dark it was almost purple shifting over his shoulders.

._.

The Phantom seemed rather intrigued by now. "You mean people eat this mystery substance at celebrations? I... take it that this is something more amusing than a trophy or medal then."

"Very much more," Cassidy nodded, "Okay, well, you're stronger than me so you can carry the bigger box." The girl said pulling Tonio over to where she parked her possessed car, an old black Trans-Am.

The Kar growled at Tonio.

The Phantom blinked at the black thing. "...does that... normally happen?"

"Er, yes," The girl gave a nervous squeak, ducking her head. She kicked a tire's hub cap, "Kar! Be nice! He, er, fell out of my deck. You don't mind the fuzzball in your back seat. So be nice to Tonio. And open up young man."

There was a growling rumble before the driver side door opened, and a familiar, to both phantom and witch, a "Crouoo?" sound came from within.

Tonio blinked several times. "Wait... you've... got a Kuriboh? You do know they explode, right Dolly?"

"You have one in your pocket," Cassidy blinked back at the phantom, stooping to pick up the brown and black Kuriboh and cuddled it like one would snuggle with a cat or puppy. "And I know, but only if you hit them or they _really_ don't like someone..."

"I what?"

"I saw it go back in after you, ah, 'landed,'" Cassidy offered, putting her full sized Kuriboh back in The Kar, and after shifting the diver side seat, pushed it out of the way and managed to gently pull out one of the boxes there. "Here... kind of heavy!"

The Phantom seemed curious as he carefully took the box from her. "...this is heavy?" He asked, seeming perplexed. He then addressed the rest of what she said. "Ah, okay... I'm still trying to figure out how it got in there in the first place though..."

"You're bigger and have like, a superman build under that suit!" Cassidy protested, flushing, "Of course it's heavy to me, and not you." She said diving back into The Kar again to get another box, one she could managed, and closed the door with her hip. Though thankfully having noticed and waited until after the Kuriboh hopped out to fallow them.

"...Superman?" He inquired, seeming more than a little confused by this point. "...your world is very odd. Who or what is Superman?"

"He's a character in a comic book," Cassidy said on the way to a covered table not far away, noting the clouds rolling in. "But it is also a description. A 'super-man' i.e. someone epic," She grinned at the phantom.

"Oooh..." It took him a moment to register the meaning before he grinned. "Oh! Well then, thanks for the compliment, Dolly."

The mortal human set the box on her chosen table, pointing at the spot for the other box, "Here, put that there, and here's a plate for you, and a fork." Cassidy set the things down, arranging the boxes so the two could sit on the end, have everything in reach but also on the more sheltered side for the rain that Cassidy was sure would come in a half an hour.

Tonio carefully set the box down where he was instructed to before accepting the plate and fork, still seeming curious. "Alrighty... anything else I can do?"

"Pick what looks good," Cassidy said opening a container and nudging the creampuffs onto her plate and offering it to Tonio before the cupcakes.

The Phantom seemed very confused as he watched. "...is food supposed to be those colors?" He asked, seeming rather perplexed with the situation at hand. He really had no idea what he was getting into, and it was obvious.

"Food is all sorts of colors," Cassidy said, fishing for the Tupperware container she knew had some cupcakes in it.

"... I've never seen food this color before." Tonio replied truthfully. "... I didn't know that edible came in hot pink."

Cassidy pushed the pastry to the Monster, and took out a delicate looking mini-cupcake with white frosting and pick sprinkles. "It's good, the cream-balls are thawed out, maybe a bit cold, and these are one kind of cupcakes."

He nodded a little, accepting the sweet delectable and looking it over with curiosity. He paused a moment to smell it, blinking several times as he looked at it again. "It smells... rather interesting." He seemed quite intrigued now. "And very eat-worthy."

Cassidy smiled up at the phantom that was a good three feet taller than her, at his 8 feet. It was good thing its at the end of the picnic table, and that the table was bolted down for that matter. She tried very hard not to laugh as she realized the sight them must be. The, compositely, huge monster sitting like he was with mini wedding dainties.

The paper witch feed her fuzzball some of the decorative salad leaves to hide hi new grin, as her hair was mostly all tied up in the braid.

Tonio hesitated a moment more before shrugging a little and taking a small bite out of the cupcake. He blinked several times at first, seeming unsure of what to think, though slowly a small smile formed on his mildly frosted lips. "Mmm..." Was all he mumbled out, seeming as though he thoroughly enjoyed the flavor he was now experiencing for the first time.

Giggling, because she really couldn't help it, not with seeing the somewhat mussed up Witty Phantom sitting there across from her nibbling a mini cupcake.

"Do you like it?" Cassidy asked.

Monster swallowed what was in his mouth before smiling at her. "Very muchly so." He responded, seeming quite happy with his present situation, despite the fact that it was rather unusual, and probably quite comical to look at. "I've never had something this amazingly tasty before."

"Eat as much as you want," Cassidy's smile turned softer, "I have a lot more then this at home, I had left over duty." She nodded at the two boxes, and pulled out one of her favorites, fancy or no, and pig in a blanket was still just that.

"Wow, you seriously got lucky." Tonio responded cheerfully. "If all goodies like this are... well, this good, I'm surprised people don't fight over being on left-over duty."

"So am I," Cassidy considered, "Well, sometimes leftover's aren't always as good as this. I happen to know a fire witch that's a wedding planner."

Now he seemed a little confused again. "Knowing a wedding planner means you get dibs on the good stuff that gets left behind?" He inquired.

"When you're both witches and owed a favor!" Cassidy chirped.

Tonio paused to consider that for a moment before grinning. "So it was rigged?"

"More like good timing and helping out." The girl smile, "I didn't offer to help my friend with the intent to get something. That's not how kindness works."

"Kindness, eh?" The Phantom repeated, thinking it over a little. He remembered what happened the last time someone tried showing him kindness. "...isn't kindness a double-edged sword sometimes?"

Cassidy opened her mouth to protest, but paused and really considered it. She sighed as she remembered several things, "When you're dealing with someone who has greed or darkness in their hearts, yes, sometimes it can be. But most of the time its not."

"...you mean... people here don't call other people cowards if they accept help when they really need it? They don't... ruin other people's lives for accepting acts of kindness when they'd otherwise get killed?"

The horrified look the Phantom got suggested that this was not the case, followed by instant worry.

Tonio noticed this right away. "...I'll take that as a no then." He said awkwardly. Seeming uneasy, he decided to enjoy a bit more of his cupcake. He seemed as though he were half afraid to explain what happened to make him ask what he had, though willing to tell the story if she asked him to.

"...if you want to talk about it, I can listen."

It took a few long moments before the mortal human spoke again, having though about her own words carefully, She also made up her mind to give Tonio a hug one way or another. Or two hugs.

The Phantom nodded slightly, finishing his cupcake and licking the frosting off his lips before closing his eyes. "I figure I may as well tell you, Dolly. It'll probably help you understand me a bit better when I do odd stuff."

He hesitated to re-consider what he was about to say before plucking up his courage and continuing. "A long while back, dunno how long for sure, I was on a job for someone who was payin' me real good. Send me into Harpie territory. Normally that ain't too big a deal, I'd done it before, but... th-that was hunting day, and... well... I wasn't in the right place at the right time. Nearly died, but a Dark Magician showed up and saved my life. I quit the job I was on and went back to say I couldn't do it..."

Now he gave a small shiver. "B-but my boss wasn't happy that I failed... said I was a coward and a weakling. He wrecked my rep as a good person to call for favors. Life was awful since that, really... That's why I don't get along with Magicians; because one's attempt to help me ruined my life."

"It wasn't the magician," Cassidy tried to gently correct, curling her hands around one of Tonio's, "It was this so called 'boss'- and frankly that's a horrid way of being one- that did the bad." The human tilted her head before standing and walking around to the Phantom's other side, hiking up her skirt to climb up on the bench of the picnic table. Standing there it was much easier to pull Tonio into a hug against her chest, arms wrapped around his neck.

Hush you shippers there in the background, Cassidy was fully covered.

The Phantom's hair seemed to be taking on a dull, grey-purple hue as he closed his eyes and very lightly leaned against her, not wanting to knock her over, but still wanting the comfort. "I... I know that." He said quietly. "It's just... if he wouldn't have tried to help me, I... I wouldn't have had my reputation- my whole lifestyle really, wrecked... Sure I'd be dead, but... what's worse? Being dead, or being known by virtually everyone as a coward and a failure?" He sounded almost as though he genuinely didn't know the answer.

"Is that so called 'boss' in a deck?" Cassidy asked with sudden inspiration, drawing on the memory of Tonio's momentary flash of pleased pride when the phantom had heard that he fell out of Cassidy's dueling deck.

"I'm not sure." He replied quietly. "I hope he isn't. Nobody should have to have a Monster like that in their deck."

"Then lets say he isn't. But you are." The girl said, hugging the Monster again.

Tonio actually paused to consider what she said. "...y-you're right... even with what happened, I've still been able to one-up him..." The dreary color slowly began to fade out of his hair as he thought it through. "...thanks, Cassidy..."

Wait... he just used her real name. He hadn't done that before, had he?

Pushing his hat back, the paper witch pressed a dramatic kiss to the phantom's forehead, "There we go Tonio! Now, eat another cupcake, that one's chocolate. And chocolate makes everything better."

The Monster's hair went from a light grey-purple to light pink as soon as she'd kissed him, seemingly. He gave a faint laugh as he smiled a bit. "I... I think that's a very good idea."

Proud of making the phantom feel at least a little better, the girl pulled Toni's hat back over the spot. Trying to give him a subconscious feeling of having the spot protected before hopping down.

He smiled a bit more as he watched her sit down again. "You know..." He said after giving it a bit of consideration. "If... if that hadn't all happened the way it did, I wouldn't be who I am right now... I guess that Magician did me a lot more good than he even meant to." It wasn't hard to guess that he had been meaning how well he was getting along with Cassidy.

"I bet my paycheck you'll never tell him that." Cassidy mused, taking soft candy sweet.

Tonio laughed quietly as the pink faded out of his hair, returning it to the blond it had been before. "Yeah, probably not. I probably won't even see him again, now that I think about it..."

"Don't say that," Cassidy warned, glancing around, "Raven might hear, then it'll happen in a surprising way."

The Phantom raised an eyebrow. "Well, okay then. I won't say that again, just in case."

Looking at the Monster, Cassidy belatedly realized something that she had been noticing. His _hair!_ The girl started giggling and to save herself, popped a dainty in her mouth.

Tonio raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her, a second mini-cupcake almost at his mouth. He lowered it and eyed her with confusion, his hair turning pale again. "Is something funny to you?" He inquired curiously.

"Yes, but in a good way," The girl promised, crossing her heart, her gaze flicked up to his hair.

He missed the eye flicking somehow, "Alright... care sharing it? I'm rather curious as to what was funny." By now his hair was nearly white again.

Cassidy reached back and held up her braid, smiling at Tonio, "Here's a hint."

The Phantom's hair went white as snow for a bit, considering the clue before blinking and looking at his own hair, realization hitting him and flushing his locks a brilliant shade of emerald green. "Oh! That!" He laughed a little, his hair returning to blond as he explained. "Yeah, my hair mimics my mood."

 _I'm going to need a new log book,_ The paper witch thought, as she recalled her logged 'magical notebooks' that she kept- and made her best friend keep as well. "Good thing I don't, no offence but I have more hair then you! It'd be a rainbow."

The Monster nodded with amusement as he thought it over. "It'd certainly be an interesting thing to see, Dolly. Probably hard to get used to at first though, if you weren't expecting it."

"My feathers are enough," Cassidy agreed, smiling, reaching for another candy, and giving Tonio another as well, fueling the bad feeling that magicians' another world away had.

Tonio cheerfully accepted the candy. "Thanks." He said before sighing contentedly and putting the sweet in his mouth. Yep, he definitely seemed to like the taste of wedding dainties.

"Croo!"

Cassidy looked down, "No," she shook her head, "Last time you had sugar, you turned into six... then twenty..."

The Phantom blinked before laughing quietly. "You gave the Kuriboh sugar? That's a recipe for disaster, Dolly."

"I didn't! My best friend did! Turned my Kuriboh into a tribble!"

Tonio's hair went white again. "A... tribble? What's a tribble?"

"...okay, I'm introducing you to Star Trek." Cassidy announced, "The Shadow Realm apparently does not have good cultural shows."

The Monster blinked slowly. "Star... Trek? Sounds interesting enough I suppose."

"Yeah, sometime," Cassidy nodded, feeding the smaller fiend another salad leaf instead of one of the sweets. "Is the little one still in your pocket?"

Tonio shrugged and folded back his jacket to check the inner pocket. "Dunno. Do you remember which pocket it went into?"

"I think the right outer..." The girl blinked, pausing to be sure, "Maybe...I was a little distracted when I spotted it."

"Ah... well, we'll just have to explore a bit then." He took his jacket off and looked into one of the outer pockets. "...what the heck is that?"

"What is what-" Cassidy blinked at what was drawn out, "...how did a bubble gun _fit_ in your pocket?"

Tonio blinked a few times before shrugging. "Dunno. When I got the coat someone said something about large pockets, but I really have no idea how that thing even got there."

"It looks like the model that came out last year," Cassidy reached to touch the bubble gun.

Sure enough, the bubble gun was very much solid, and very much real. "...Eh." Tonio asked awkwardly, his hair going a bit pale again. "...what exactly IS a bubble gun?"

"Here," The girl took it, and after checking the toy, then turned it on to start making bubbles. "Bubble gun!"

The monster blinked before laughing quietly as his hair returned to normal. "Sheesh, it's like this one crazy Toon Dark Magician Girl I know. Whenever she shows up, bubbles are everywhere."

Cassidy chuckled, "Well, now you have something to shoot bubbles at her?" The girl offered the bubble gun back.

He smiled as he accepted it and looked it over. "Yeah, that sounds fun. She'd probably think it was hilarious, actually." He set it down beside him before looking in his pocket again. "... I don't even know how half this stuff got in here..."

"Doctor Who pockets." Cassidy shook her head, then tilted her head. "I think I heard the fiend... from your left side?"

"Doctor what?" Was the question she received as the Monster stopped searching in his right pocket and turned his attention to the left pocket.

"Er, never mind for now." Cassidy said, letting her fuzzy Monster hop into her lap, and wrapped her arms around it for a cuddle.

He merely shrugged as he continued to dig through his pocket. "...what the heck?" He pulled a rubber chicken out. "That is so not mine." Both Cassidy and the Kuriboh were giggling at the older and humanoid fiend type Monster now. Tonio's hair was now pearly white again as he just stared at the chicken in bewilderment. "I honestly have no idea how that got in there..."

"Just don't try to eat it!"

He made a sour face. "Uh... Dolly? Why would I want to eat rubber?" At least he knew what rubber was.

"Cruuo!" the Kuriboh commented, seeming to smile.

"Yeah!" Cassidy gigged, "It is pretty lifelike!"

The Phantom laughed a little. "Did you want it? I have no use for a rubber chicken."

The paper witch shook her head, "No. Maybe you can throw it to distract a dragon or something?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I think the dragons back home are a bit smarter than that, Dolly. Good thought though."

"You never know," Cassidy smiled, "If you take someone by surprise they will believe a lot of things."

"Yes, I suppose that's true." Tonio agreed after giving it a bit of thought. "Surprise can do a lot of interesting things to a person."

"Just don't surprise a fire witch." Cassidy warned, rubbing her left arm and grimacing. "They tend to fireball first then check if they even needed to afterwards."

The Phantom cringed a little at that. "Ah... yeah, I'll try not to do that. I'm no fan of dodging fireballs."

"There's not that much dodging," Cassidy admitted, "Fire witches have really good aim, and most of the fireballs are heat seeking."

"Yeesh... sounds like one of those Fire Manipulator guys from back home..." Tonio mumbled, as though recalling a particular run-in with one. The girl arched up an eye brow in a questioning way, with a tilt of the head. He gave a sheepish laugh. "I... um... got lit on fire by one by accident once..."

"You know everything that I've heard about the Shadow Realm in research and what you said." Cassidy started, "I don't think I want to visit."

"It's not a healthy place for humans, trust me." Tonio said, cringing a little. "Last poor soul who went there got... never mind, you really don't want to know what happened."

"Is it any worse than someone trying to kidnap you and use your blood to call a demon from hell while you're still alive?" Cassidy asked looking away and out to where the rain was starting to drip down. "Kinda sucks being a low level white witch in this world too."

"...ehm... no, it wasn't quite like that." The Phantom confessed. "But it was a very bloody ordeal that left him getting torn to shreds by two Man-Eater Bugs while he was still quite alive and screaming... by the way, I had no hand in that whatsoever."

"You know what?" Cassidy said looking at the two boxes, "I want another cup cake and forget that part. Here, have a strawberry cupcake."

He quite willingly accepted the cupcake. "That's a good plan, Dolly. It's a nice day, even if the sun is ridiculously bright, so there's no point in focusing on the dreary things."

"Its not so bright now," Cassidy pointed out, and pointed to the rain that was sprinkling. Maybe the good food was distracting the phantom fiend?

"Oh?" He blinked and looked up at the sky. "Ah... heh, I missed that detail somehow." His hair tinted faintly pink as he said this.

"Just eat your cupcake." Cassidy advised, taking a bite for herself and rising to poke at the boxes and come up with another treat.

The Phantom nodded, laughing faintly before focusing on his cupcake and sighing contentedly as he ate it. Yep, he definitely seemed to have a sweet tooth.

"I think there's a lemon one," Cassidy said looking in another plastic container, "Oooo, there was still salmon sliders!" She produced mini salmon burgers out of the box of leftovers, and showed Tonio, even cold they were still good.

Tonio seemed rather curious. "That's a... slider?" He inquired. "I thought sliders on snow hills."

"That's sleds," Cassidy corrected, around one of the salmon sliders.

"Ah, my mistake." He commented, laughing a little. "It seems I still have a lot to learn, even though I probably know a little more about this world than most others in the Shadow Realm."

"Well, when I get good at summoning... would you like to come back?" Cassidy asked as she sat down again, shooing her Kuriboh away from the sugar treats. "That might be better than being hit by dragons to come here?"

Tonio chuckled a bit more at the offer. "I would very much appreciate that, Dolly. It would save me a lot of pain, and you a lot of magical energy considering what you had to do to patch me back together."

"Healing isn't that hard actually," The girl smiled again and almost pointedly added with her next words, "It takes willingness to help someone, anyone else. Kindness."

"There's that word again." He commented, though instead of seeming bothered, he gave a small smile. "I'm glad it isn't something hard for you to do."

"If I was anything other than a white witch, I wouldn't be able to do that kind of magic," Cassidy ducked her head, feeling herself blush as she held one of the mini cupcakes.

"Really?" The Phantom asked, sounding rather curious as he considered it, his hair turning pale, almost white again. "Why is that?"

The girl held out her hand to him, "Here, let me have your hand."

He gently took hold of her hand without hesitation. "Alright."

Cassidy wrapped both of her hands around his one. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and let it out as she called on the energy in her. Without any injures to heal it took some focus, but it wasn't hard anymore for her. That energy was channeled through her hands to wrap around Tonio's fingers, warm and soft, reflecting the paper witch's aurora.

The Phantom blinked several times as this sensation washed through his fingers and hand. "Whoa... okay, that's a cool feeling..."

"That's what you need in your heart in order to heal," Cassidy said opening her eyes, but they were glazed with magic. "Healing magic comes from within first, if you have a bad heart, you'll just hurt people."

He thought that over before grimacing. "Ah..." He sighed quietly. "Well... I'm not sure if that carries through to Monsters or not, but I'm a Dark type, so I doubt I could do anything about it anyway."

"That fuzz ball is dark too," The girl pointed out nodded at the Kuriboh. "And so is... um..." she blinked her eyes until they cleared and the extra magic absorbed into the phantom's hand.

"Dark Magicians." Tonio put in. "Komori Dragon, Curse of Dragon, pretty much everyone in the Gravekeeper collection... there's a lot."

Cassidy became fidgety, "Yes..." she blinked again, noticing that the Monster's fingers looked to be manicured now. Quick! A distraction was needed! "But just because you're dark doesn't mean you're bad. I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for, well, my two Dark Magicians warnings, I'd be in big trouble."

Tonio seemed rather curious, his hair now pearly white. "So... even someone with dark as their element can heal people?"

"If you _want_ to help someone for no other reason but to help them, yes. I think so." The human girl smiled, Cassidy blew a lock of hair and small feather out of her face. "Like I said, kindness is at the root."

"Yes, that makes sense." Tonio responded, thinking about it a bit. "Hm... Perhaps I'll be able to heal sometime as well."

Cassidy gripped the phantom's fingers, "It'll take time, I've been working on healing magics since I was 13."

"And... how old are you now, Dolly? If you don't mind my asking."

The paper witch giggled and gave him a wink, "Turning 24 this summer, don't let the shortness fool you."

The Phantom blinked a few times. "You're aging very well." He observed with a small smile.

"The shortness does help, that's what Morgan said," The girl smiled a bit, "But thank you."

Tonio smiled a bit more. "You're welcome, Dolly."

Cassidy let the Kuriboh crawl up in her lap, feeding it the last of the readily handy, planet based garnishes, it seemed happy to be more of a lap-dog then an attack monster. Wide eyes closed with a purr as it was pet.

The Phantom watched for a moment before smiling a little. "...watching you cuddle that thing makes me want one to cuddle too..."

The paper witch arched and eyebrow, "Oh?" Though Tonio seemed like he needed one, he didn't give the imprecation of being a cuddlier.

Tonio fidgeted awkwardly, his hair tinting a bit pink. "Ehm... l-let's not tell any of your other card critters about that, okay? I'd rather not be known as 'Tonio the cuddle-monster'..."

"Kruu!" The brown fuzzball 'said,' it didn't see anything wrong with cuddles, and though phantom wasn't exactly the same, he was still a fiend type.

"I won't," Cassidy promised as she smiled again.

The Phantom smiled a little at her response. "Thanks Dolly. I mean, I don't have much of a reputation any more as it is, but all the same, I wouldn't mind trying to keep what shreds of it I have left."

"Or you can start over and build a new one," Cassidy offered the idea almost shyly

"I... can I guess." Tonio replied, thinking on it a bit. "How though?"

"I guess by picking a new path to walk on." The girl guessed, looking out at the light rain. "I know it sounds completely cheesy, but the 'follow your heart' line fits in, but I'd suggest using your head too."

He thought that over, seeming curious about it. "Well... I guess I'll just have to try and wing it for now... does that sound right?"

"I think that's what everyone does in general with life," Cassidy giggled, hugging the Kuriboh.

Tonio smiled a bit as he thought about it. "Well, that's what I'm gonna do then. Here's hoping I don't make a goof of it, eh?"

"My father says you should always try something at least once," The paper witch reached out with her free hand and grasped his closer hand. Or rather Tonio's fingers.

He blinked when she took hold of his fingers, but smiled a bit more. "That's a good way to go 'bout it I suppose, but how does one know what is a good idea to try and what isn't?"

"...I'm not sure, in a way you have to think about, and try not to hurt someone." Cassidy considered, "And, well, the best teacher, is experience."

Tonio actually gave a small laugh. "Well, I'm not exactly the best one to tell about thinkin' Dolly, considering the lot I was in with before. But hey, I'll try it."

The girl shrugged, "Okay, think as much as you can." She giggled and ducked.

He merely stuck his tongue out at her. "Nyeh."

"You implied it first," Cassidy defended herself.

Tonio laughed. "I didn't say I couldn't think. I just said I wasn't good at deciding on the right option."

"Thus experience," The human grinned and motioned the phantom to stand and com around to her side of the picnic table.

He shrugged a little as he got up and moved over. "Yeah, but how long is it going to take me?"

"Well, you have a lot of experience already," Cassidy said shooing the fuzzball off her lap and mad Tonio first sit then managed to get him to lay back with his head in her lap. "You're probably older than me several times over."

Tonio shrugged. "Eh, probably..." He responded, totally enjoying the situation despite how awkward the size differences probably were. "But my experiences weren't of a good-natured sort, probably.

Even if one of his legs was braced on the ground and he had to bend the other knee, but the phantom sort of fit. Cassidy didn't mind being on the edge of the bench as she ran her hands over the monster's face and head, smoothing out his hair and teasing out a few tangles.

"Its still experience though, if you didn't like doing something before, and can help it to do again, then don't do it."

He smiled a little, his expression showing amusement and that he was relaxing under her touch. "I suppose so... You're good at convincing people of things."

"Or you just like being pet." Came the small tease.

The Phantom made a comical 'erk' sound, his hair turning bubblegum pink. "W-well... I-I-I like that too..."

Cassidy giggled, and then again as the Kuriboh hopped up and curled up into Tonio's middle. The paper witch hummed comforting and pushed the pink hair back, "Its okay."

He gave an awkward, almost giggle-like laugh. "W-well, as long as you think so, Dolly. I'm at your command, and all that." He lightly reached up and, smiling a little, stroked her cheek with one of his fingers. His hair turned more of a reddish pink and he got a sheepish gleam in his eyes, but he didn't say anything as he lowered his hand and started to gently stroke the Kuriboh that was sitting on him.

"I'd rather have a friend...and maybe someone that does mind me hiding behind him." Cassidy ducked her head now, but it didn't work very well as the Monster's head was in her lap.

Tonio smiled at her. "Well, I'm fine with being the proverbial 'meat shield' if you need one, Dolly. I've got no qualms with protecting a lovely lady in need."

There was an awkward pause at that phasing, the girl hung her head with a nervous squeak.

He chuckled quietly as he reached up again, lightly lifting her head with his finger gently pressing under her chin. "Hey you, no need to hide. I certainly can't; my hair's pink."

"So are my cheeks now," was the soft admission, as the woman blushed.

"I noticed, but your cheeks are a lot cuter to see pink than my hair is." He teased lightly. Making a face at the tease, Cassidy then hid Tonio's with his own hair instead, and then dissolved into giggles. Tonio squawked with surprise, but laughed as he comically puffed his hair out of his face. "Hey you."

"What?" Cassidy asked, the perfect image of innocence and when he pushed his hair back, the paper witch ran her fingers over a cut from his fall into the mortal world and healed it.

"You're funny." He responded cheerily, smiling pleasantly up at her.

"This coming from the magical hair changer," Cassidy arched an eyebrow, and smiled.

Tonio made a silly face at her. "Yeah, but I can't help that my hair changes color."

"I guess not," Cassidy glanced over at the smaller fiend and blinked as different movement caught her attention. "Oh...I think the Shadows just realized you weren't really summoned."

Tonio seemed confused now, shifting as he lifted his head just enough to take a look around. "Eh? What do you mean, Dolly?"

She pointed at his supporting leg off the bench, and the flicker of shadows there clinging to his pants. "I've seen that before, when Kuriboh's been here too long. I think that means you're going back soon."

The Phantom's hair went from the pinkish color it had been to a dull and dreary grey. "Oh..." He sighed as he relaxed his head back lightly, looking up at Cassidy and giving a grim, half-hearted smile. "Guess my time's runnin' out then... wonder how long it'll be til I go 'poof'."

"I don't know, for what it's worth Kuriboh's trying to eat the shadow?" Cassidy tried to cheer him up again.

Tonio gave a faint smile as he closed his eyes. "He is, eh? That's cute..." His hair turned a lighter shade of grey. "... any idea when I'll be able to get back here after I'm gone?"

"When I get better at summoning?" Cassidy offered, "I'm still learning Shadow-Magic after all."

He paused to think that over for a bit, but nodded a little, his hair now back to the blond color it had been when he first arrived. "Yeah, true enough. And who knows? Maybe something else will punt me out here again soon too." He smiled a little more as he chuckled. "Just... preferably without as much force as the dragon had."

"Cruu." the Kuriboh paused in it's motion of chewing on the creeping, living shadow to reassure the bigger monster that it never hurt him.

The Phantom felt this and chuckled quietly, opening his eyes and reaching over to pet the Kuriboh. "Thanks, bud. That's good to know, for sure and certain..."

"You can understand him?" Cassidy asked, only ever getting the general gist of things with the fuzzy Monster. She returned to the basic petting of Tonio's hair, having slipped something in his strange pockets without him noticing.

Tonio chuckled quietly as he looked up at her. "Yep. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what some say but this little guy I can understand crystal-clearly."

"I wonder why," Cassidy thought, on hand touching her deck in her own pocket. Could it be that? That the two were not only both finds but linked through the deck?

She really needed to talk to someone in Shadow Magic...

The Phantom shrugged slightly. "Who knows. Magic and Duel Monsters are odd... but we're still awesome." He flashed her a winning sort of grin, and despite his somewhat pointy teeth, he still seemed rather charming.

"That you are," Cassidy assured promptly, she paused and then asked, "Am I going to hear you now too?"

He thought it over a bit. "Well..." He mused after a moment or two. "Probably. Not sure for certain, but it's rather likely." His hair tinted a pinkish red as he said awkwardly. "I'll try to keep the cursing down to a minimum, just in case."

"I've learned more Egyptian and elven curses then you realize," The paper witch sighed, flushing a bit.

Tonio started to laugh. "Yeah, but I don't swear in Elven or Egyptian. Mine are straight-up, old-school English. Though I have picked up a few fancy ones during my own travels in the Shadow Realm. Goblin swearing, for example, sounds like someone's choking on their own phlegm... not a fun sound."

Two slender hands were placed over the Phantom's mouth, "No! Don't want to know. Nope. Not at All."

His eyes betrayed an impish grin, his voice muffled as he sounded as though he said. "I vashn't goingf toof say anyfingk."

"You're a find, I don't believe you trouble maker." Cassidy eyed him.

He just giggle-laughed into her hands, his eyes holding amusement. "I swears I noft say ift!"

There was a long pause before the girl carefully lifted her hands off Tonio's face, "Good."

The Phantom just smiled 'innocently' up at her. "You're funny."

The girl messed up the not-quite man's hair in retaliation while the Kuriboh on his stomach gave up on chewing on the shadows. Its mouth was numb after all. Tonio grinned up at her before blinking. "I think my hat fell off." He commented before shrugging. "Ah well, no real biggie." He then looked at Kuriboh and chuckled a little. "Gave up, eh?"

Kuriboh snorted, sitting back to rub its jaws under the furry fluff to get feeling back in them. It looked up as Cassidy moved, leaning down to the side and stretched to grab the white fedora. She brushed it off and put it over top Tonio's head and face.

The phantom blinked before laughing quietly and lifting his hat off his face so he could look up at Cassidy. "Ah, thank you Dolly. Can't be forgetting that now can I?"

"No you can't, fedoras are treasures in their own right," Cassidy giggled, though tilted her head in some confusion of how he got it, and the suit itself.

Tonio chuckled as he smiled a bit more. "Precisely. A person can constantly replace a pair of shoes, but one can never really replace a good hat. It almost becomes a part of the person who owns it."

"I just hope not physically," Cassidy smiled down at the Monster, "I hope your Kuriboh is still in your pocket when you go…it still seems young not just small."

He nodded as he lightly slipped his hand in his pocket to check for the Kuriboh, being careful just in case it was in there. He didn't want to hurt the little cutie, after all. "Yeah, it did seem pretty young to me too."

"I guess…that makes you a daddy." The paper witch just couldn't help it, she really couldn't and bit her lower lip to keep from giggling again.

The Phantom blinked before laughing a bit. "Me? A daddy? Nah. More like a crazy uncle, probably. Everyone's got one of those."

Cassidy held up one hand, the thumb and forefinger curled up as she spread the other three out, "Tell me about it..."

He grinned. "By the sounds of it, I don't really have to, do I?"

"No, my dad had a lot of brothers." Cassidy considered, "And since I'm the only girl in my generation of the family, and so small, I get a lot of birthday presents."

"Oh? Isn't that a good thing in a way though?" Tonio asked. "It shows that people care a lot about you."

"It does, but is also means I have three uncles, and seven cozens that are over protective of the only Paper witch in the family." Cassidy pointed out.

"... ah." He said as he thought it over a bit. "... yeah, that could make it a bit troublesome..."

"kind of a good thing that I didn't start using Shadow Magic until I moved in with Morgan," the girl admitted, "Otherwise, you might have met Nana."

"... Nana?" Tonio inquired, seeming half curious and half afraid. "Do I want to know who she is?"

"My grandmother," Cassidy ducked her head, "She's the head shaman locally now, and considers anything 'dark' as very bad. And in need of banishing."

The Phantom made a comical sounding 'eep' noise. "O-oh... yeah, kinda glad I haven't met her." He then blinked, his expression showing curiosity. "Wait... does she know you're learning Shadow Magic?"

There was a long, awkward and a bit shameful silence as his replay, dark chocolate colored eyes looking away.

"...ah." He said after a while, hesitating before reaching up and stroking her cheek again. "No need to be ashamed of it, Dolly. If she's so wiggy about it, I don't blame you for not telling her. Heck, if my granny was like that, I wouldn't tell her. I'd be terrified... of course, my granny was kind of scary even without any magic..." He cringed. "Her and that wooden spoon o' hers... nobody messed with granny..."

"Nana has a staff." Cassidy rubbed one shoulder, the girl looked back down at Tonio, tilting her head and a lock of black hair fell into her face. She kept her question to herself noticing the shadows were growing larger.

He chuckled faintly. "Ouch. That's probably worse than a wooden spoon ever could be." He paused, studying her face and seeming to notice she had a question on her mind. "...'sup Dolly?"

"Nothing, well, something," the Paper witch admitted, "But I think it might have to wait." she said and reached down to touch one of the shadows curling around his arms and poking at the white jacket.

"Oh? Why?" Tonio asked before looking at himself and seeming almost to cringe. "...oh, that's why..." He sighed and closed his eyes. "There just ain't enough time in the worlds, eh?"

"If I get good at summoning it'll be as long as my magic can support you," Cassidy offered, reaching over to grasp the phantom's larger hand.

He smiled a bit as he felt Cassidy take hold of his hand, gently closing his fingers over hers and giving a faint, content sounding sigh as he opened his eyes and smiled up at her. "Guess I'll just have to learn patience 'til you get that figured out then."

There was a moment of silences, before Cassidy ducked down and gave Tonio another kiss on his forehead, before resting hers against it.

All at once, the Phantom's hair turned a vibrant shade of pink, and he gave her a sheepish little smile. "Sneaky girl." He teased lightly, his voice showing all too plainly that he rather liked the sign of affection.

"Maybe a little..." Cassidy smiled, keeping her eyes closed.

Tonio chuckled quietly, though he got an odd tingling feeling crawling up his frame that he knew meant he didn't have much longer before he was gone. As the shadows curled up higher, now licking at his chest, he shifted and reached up, lightly cupping Cassidy's head with his hands, and smiling almost sadly before gently kissing her forehead. "I'm glad I got to meet you Dolly..." He said quietly, letting go of her head and gently stroking her cheek with his finger before it was overtaken by the shadows. His smile grew a little more as he stared up at her for a moment, sighing faintly before closing his eyes.

"Goodbye..." And as he said these last words, the shadows covered him fully, and he faded away, the Shadow Realm reclaiming its 'lost' Phantom, and leaving Cassidy alone once more.

The paper witch folded her hands into her lap, no longer feeling any weight. "Bye," She said smoothing her cloths, and hopped that the cupcake she put in Tonio's pocket made the trip with him and her fuzzball.


	2. Phantom’s Shift

There was something in the quiet that had the woman lifting her head from the large, old book, blinking around the top, 'public' layer of the archives. Settled at a table in the library the woman looked around the semi open area, the paper witch was sitting with her back to the book shelves. Reaching up she pulled her headphones off and listened, had something moved?

The woman hummed and called softly to the feline that had come with her, the former temple cat but didn't see the pale form anywhere. Cassidy looked down at the old book, slipping a paper into it, with several inches of the page marking her spot in case it closed before getting up. Moving away from her lamp, she formed a light spell in the form of a sphere to hold up as it would save on power, nor show outside the windows of the charmed building.

As Cassidy looked about, the shadows pulled back away from the light, as was the usual, normal thing to do. Everything was as fine and good as it should be, at present. Nothing out of place, nothing amiss...

And yet, something definitely felt off. It wasn't a bad kind of off, just... off. As if something was going to, or already had, happen that wasn't supposed to happen in a library, regardless how magical or unmagical it was.

Somewhere behind her, just out of the light's range, the shadows briefly darkened, black as pitch and swirling ominously as a stranger calmly, silently, stepped through. His pearly hat was tilted down to hide the upper half of his face, leaving just his darkly red-toned chin and mouth visible. His hair was a soft blond, fringed with a light orange. His spotless, white-as-snow suit was perfectly pressed and cared for. The black cane in his hand, crowned by what appeared to be a gold-colored gargoyle head, perfectly tended and polished, the eyes of the gargoyle glittering, blood red rubies.

This mysterious stranger paused, tilting his hat just enough to glance at the paper witch before him. His lips curved into an amused smile, pointed canines just barely poking from beneath his upper lip. Casually he leaned against the bookcase beside him, watching the little witch in amusement before finally speaking up. "Fancy meeting you here, Dolly."

The response had almost no hesitation, the white witch giving a scream as she jumped further away and flailed her magic to grab the loose paper from a table. Forming a shield out of it as she spun, overbalanced and fell down before the creature, eyes wide and staring up at the towering Monster from ground level.

The white-clad figure laughed in amusement as he tipped his hat back to reveal his face, his skin crimson and his eyes a solid black, glittering with intrigue and what was likely innocent mischief. "You're plenty short as it is without needing to stare up at me from down there." He grinned, his semi-pointed teeth having an odd, somewhat unnerving look about them, though not so pointed that they appeared to be outright demonic.

"Need a hand getting up again?"

"...you _jerk!_ " Cassidy yelled once she placed the voice, pointing up at him, " _Gre-ta!_ " She ordered and a there was an army of squeaking from the paper-cranes that woke up and started to dive bomb the Monster in vengeance, though the paper creatures weren't a harm.

The most that happened was he hid his face with his hat, laughing as he ducked his head, "Hey hey now, easy Dolly! I wasn't trying to scare you too bad, honest. Just decided I'd pop in and say hello, that's all."

The woman glared from her spot, but after a moment waved her hand and the squeaking army dispersed back into the library. Cassidy winced as she shifted, half sitting on her loose hair, and moved to get off it with a pout, "You're still a jerk Tonio." She told the monster.

Tonio chuckled as he put his hat back on his head properly, and walked over, his staff eerily staying on its end as he let go of it and leaned down, quite happily picking her up and setting her gently on her feet, "Yeah yeah, evil monster from dark realms beyond comprehension. I've heard the spiel." He said, chuckling in amusement. "But you can't say you aren't happy to see me."

Cassidy brushed off her blouse, taking a moment to glare up at the monster again. Then she stepped closer and hugged him, arms wrapping around his neck and snuggling under the fiend's chin. "I can't."

Tonio grinned all the more as she did this, hugging her close once he was closer to her eye level- he felt he should at least bend down a bit so she could hug him properly, and remarking. "So, how has my favorite little mistress been doing?"

"Hiding from hunters, being sick and looking for a coven." Cassidy admitted against the suit, sighing before jumping at the touch of a living shadow from the monster.

"Hiding from hunters?" Tonio asked, instantly worried. "Where? Why? Who are they and what do they want to do with you?" He frowned, very much concerned. "Do I have to start stabbing people, Dolly?"

The paper witch pulled back, shaking her head, "No, their nightmares Tonio, controlled by bad casters, we don't know where their coming from." she looked up at the black eyes, "I'm safe here though, and in the arvived, and home. the hunter almost never come out in the day too."

The well-dressed fiend frowned, crossing his arms as she pulled out of his reach and remarking. "I still say it needs to be stopped, Dolly. If someone's messing with your head then it's gotta stop." He frowned, humming in consideration before snapping his fingers. "I got it. I'll stick around until that thing shows up, and we'll get rid of it. Badabing, badaboom, end of problem... ooor I could just track down the caster responsible and give him a few new piercings, that could work too. I hear body piercing is a fad here in your world anyway."

Cassidy paled notably and shook her head, hugging her arms, "Noo, no, no, bad idea Tonio." she shivered, "Dark Hunters, once they get a scent of magic they don't let go of it. And the fire witches have been trying to track the casters for decades."

"Does it look like I'm afraid of them?" Tonio asked, still studying her with stubbornness, concern, and dislike for the situation. "Cass, your life is being plagued, and even if I didn't feel like I wanted to, it'd still be my job to protect you. It's what this whole contract thing is about. And frankly? Even if you weren't my mistress, I'd still do it. Humans are good enough at killing each other without resorting to this sort of warfare. I'm not budging."

"You may not be afraid but I am," Cassidy shivered, "Tonio, I've see what's happened to white witches, even normal humans after a dark hunter gets them. I've helped those that are being tracked get into the safety of the archives over the years too. I'm not actively hunted either, I'm safe here at work and at home." she reached out to grasp one of the larger hands of the fiend in both of hers. "Really. I'm not in danger right now."

He raised a yellow-blond eyebrow as he watched her, frowning as he moved his hand so, rather than her holding onto one of his, he was holding hers with both of his own. "You do know you're doing nothing to ease my worry, right?" He remarked quietly, his voice surprisingly soft compared to his usual, bordering cheeky tone. "First you tell me you're being hunted, then you tell me it's nightmares and dark hunters, THEN you say you've seen what kind of horrific things happen to other little witches who are just as white in magic, if not whiter, than you? And say after that, that even 'normal' humans get royally messed up? ...I don't think that's going to help assure me you aren't in danger."

He sighed, shaking his head a little before gently tugging her closer so he was hugging her again. "You're not good at the whole diplomacy and bluffing thing, are you?"

Cassidy was blushing, the witch shaking her head as she looked down, "For what its worth, I didn't mean to upset you, nor that I was literally being hunted. As for nightmares, that's what the creatures are called."

He studied her for a moment before sighing, shifting so he was holding her with one arm, and pausing a moment to take his very coveted hat off his head, plopping it gently onto hers. "Because that helps." He remarked, expression tired, yet vaguely amused at the same time. "Listen Dolly, you're not going to ease my worrying by saying that there's creatures hunting you that are called nightmares. You know where I'm from, and you've seen what kind of trouble I get into; if people are slinging dark magic around here, I'm not going to just up and let it go, okay?"

Blushing a little more under the hat, Cassidy still tried to blindly hug the monster, "Alright. But how about I call if I'm in real trouble?" she offered against the fiend's lower chest as he was still kneeling down.

He laughed faintly. "And how am I going to know that you'll actually call, or if you'll not call because you're scared for my health?" He asked, grinning a little as he lightly toyed with her hair, his crimson fingers gently dancing through the strands, enjoying the soft, smooth feel of it as it slid over his skin.

"How about you're likely higher on the scary meter then I am?" Cassidy offered letting go to move the hat and be able to look up at the black eyes, "my puppies come when I need them."

The fiend grinned even more at her usage of his term. "Of course I am, Dolly; I'm practically a nightmare all on my own. I just behave when I feel it's a good time to. But that doesn't answer my question; how will I know you actually are going to call me?"

Cassidy considered the question, she wasn't about to swear on the living shadows- those scared her still. More so the wilds ones. She looked up again, putting a hand over her collar bone, "I promise, with my white magic. If I need help I'll call for it." She took her hand away, and something glittered warm and gold in her palm as she moved to take one of the Monster's larger hands.

Tonio let her manipulate his hand to her heart's content, eyebrow lifted as he watched in amusement, and curiosity. "I'll hold you to it, Dolly; if you break that promise I'll be liable to pop up unannounced and just scoop you up into my arms rather than say hi first."

The paper witch huffed softly, and opened her hand. When she touched the fiend this time, it was vastly different. Not the same as those healing spells, but magic. It was _her_ magic, clean and white, maybe not exactly pure but compared to many things in the Shadow realm it might as well be.

It was so different, yet natural as Cassidy started to trace a symbol in Tonio's palm. Concentrating as she did so on the simple but strong spell that was unaffected by the Shadows.

The fiend watched as she traced on his palm, his fingers twitching a little, but his hand otherwise unmoving as he observed her actions. He wanted to make a comment, but knew better than to interrupt a mage in the middle of casting, and as such held his tongue for the time being. Cassidy took a deep breath, holding it before gently letting it out as she finished by tracing her initials over the not quite man's palm. She drew back and pulsed her magic softly, felling the echo in the fading light of Tonio's palm.

"There. Even if I can't call, you'll know if I'm casting in that 'oh gods save me' level of oh-shit."

The phantom studied the symbol patterns, even if he couldn't see them, before nodding in satisfaction. "That makes me feel a lot better. At least this way I know I can turn up when you need me most, which is a lot better than how it was before, I'm sure."

"Last time you fell out of my deck," Cassidy pointed out, adjusting the white hat again, it looked so much bigger on her. The woman smiled as she couldn't help wondering what her friend would think if that happened with Simon around.

Tonio laughed awkwardly, "Yeah, but I had a legit reason for that, Dolly. Getting smacked like a baseball by a dragon tends to make people do weird and desperate stuff to survive." The paper witch winced, and didn't know what to say to that. The only Dragon kin she knew of was mostly human. Tonio noticed this and shook his head a bit. "That dragon's a bit of a grump anyway, trust me. I don't like being in his territory, and he certainly doesn't like anyone else being there either."

"Have you been staying out of trouble?" Cassidy asked, peering up into the red face of the fiend, worried a little.

Tonio grinned at her, "As best I can, Dolly. Hard staying out of trouble in my neck of the woods, but I do what I can. Besides, I haven't come flying out of your deck aside from the one incident, so I'm not too scuffed up."

Cassidy considered, and then she brightened up, "Have you seen any of my puppies?" she asked, smiling up at Tonio.

He smiled and nodded as he watched her, absently toying with her hair again. "I have, actually. One of them decided it'd be fun to chase me up a tree."

Cassidy's eyes widen, "Were you okay? they chase rabits and bring them back... I didn't think they'd chase monsters too..."

Tonio chuckled. "Oh I'm fine, honestly. I was close enough to the tree that I got up it before they could grab me. Besides, I think the worst they'd do is just pounce me and sit on me or something. They didn't really sound like they were out to _get_ me or anything." He paused before involuntarily shuddering as a different thought crossed his mind, but he didn't comment on it.

"Are you sure?" Cassidy didn't miss the shiver in the monster, she was close enough to see it under his jacket, "I told them to be nice to who's connected to my deck."

"Oh, yeah I'm sure. Sorry Dolly, wasn't shuddering about them." The phantom assured. "There's just... eh, some other guy I don't get along with well. I'm good at dodging him too though so still nothing to worry about." He kissed the top of her head in an attempt to distract her. "Your pups are as sweet as can be."

The woman flushed, even if the kiss was over the hat, it was still an unexpected reaction.

The fiend grinned at this, chuckling in amusement as he plucked the hat off and did it again. "There, that's more like it, right?" He mumbled quietly into her hair, setting his hat so it hung on his still-upright cane.

Just how that cane of his defied gravity and logic, the world likely would never know...

Notably redder than before, and getting more and more flustered, Cassidy murmured something about wanting to sit back down at the tables. Her light spell had also gone out after that last kiss. Tonio caught this and chuckled, scooping Cassidy up into his arms - without asking, of course - and toting her back to the tables, sitting her down on one of them and chuckling in amusement. "Better?"

Squeaking the whole way over, Cassidy still felt her face was hot. She make another sound, hesitated before getting up slowly and walking over to her original table, one that had an open side for the Monster to sit down next to it, as the chairs all looked too small for him.

Tonio grinned at her, watching as she toddled off and quite happily settling himself on the floor beside the table she was at, eyeing her over before remarking with a grin. "I still think you're cute when you blush, Dolly. And you're cute in my hat. Wonder how it looks if I put them together..."

Now he was being a blatant and likely insufferable tease.

"You're horrible." Cassidy said, still flushed as she pulled her scarf up to hide her blush, "You _really are_."

Tonio chuckled at her. "Well I'm a fiend for a reason, Dolly. But you still love me in spite of it, and that's what matters, right?"

"Fiend is right, in a few meanings of the word not just the Monster kind." Cassidy muttered, and then sighed before peeking up over her scarf, "Of course I care about you, and my other cards, if there's Monsters or not attached." She reached over and touched the deck on the table that was partly between the two.

Tonio sighed in relief, seemingly, but grinned all the same. "That's definitely a relief. I love it when you say you love me."

" _Plplpl_ ," the witch razzed at the monster, "How did you get here? I didn't summon you."

Tonio grinned happily at her question. "I followed the connection between us, actually. Reeeeeaaal easy to do once I got a feel for it. And now here I am, visiting you and enjoying every moment of your adorable reactions."

"You... can move between realms?" Cassidy asked slowly, her dark eyes widening as she looked at the fiend, "Just like that?"

The fiend grinned all the more. "Can and have, Dolly. I'm special that way, I guess. That or I'm the only one who figured out how to do it. I like to think I'm special that way though; gives me more epic factor considering how much I'm not on the scary meter compared to other people."

"The other's can't do that," Cassidy shook her head, "Dream walk a bit, but not able to get past the Shadows."

Tonio grinned all the more. "Aha! I knew I was good for something!"

By this point he was likely being a dork just to make her giggle, or at least attempt it.

The woman smiled. "Many things I bet." she assured, "Are there any good books in the shadow realm?" Cassidy asked after a moment.

He thought about it a bit. "Yeah, on occasion I come across some good ones. Want me to find one and bring it back for you someday?"

"Is there anything on healing or history?" the paper witch asked, brightening up at the offer, but there was something that said she would be happy with anything from this new-old realm.

"Probably." Tonio replied, thinking it over a bit. "I haven't really been looking specifically for healing, but I've got no problem to try and find one for you."

Cassidy squeaked, thrilled at the idea she hopped up to hug the sitting monster, only really able to wrap her arms around him as he was sitting down.

The fiend chuckled happily as he leaned over and quite easily plucked her off her chair, holding her in his lap instead and lightly resting his head against her, "Gotcha."

"Just don't hang onto me enough to go back..." Cassidy shivered at the idea her poor tease brought up. then snuggled freely against the monster, trusting him.

"Oh trust me Dolly, I won't take you back with me." He chuckled as he kissed the top of her head again. "I love you too much to drag you off to my nightmare. Besides, I haven't cleaned up the house and it'd be horrible if you visited while it's in such a state."

"You only met me once Toino, how can you love me?" Cassidy puzzled, also a little confused of the idea what his house would be like in the Shadow Realm.

He chuckled. "I didn't say I was in love with you, not in that way at least. I care about you though; it's a different kind of love. You know, how friendship is its own kind of love and whatnot. I might be a demon in my own rights, but I'm a demon with a heart."

"I didn't mean falling in love either," Cassidy said with a blush for that and the kiss before still. "You're not a demon Tonio."

Tonio inclined his head, blinking in curiosity. "Compared to your world? Wouldn't I technically be something like that?"

"...maybe?" the paper witch said slowly, and then looked up, "But you've been kind that I know, if misled in the past it sounded like."

"No, I try to be a gentleman... to the people who deserve it." Tonio agreed. "But I'm a fiend, and... well, they're generally not on the happy bubbles side of the spectrum."

"...well, I like you," the white witch offered, looking up at black eyes.

He gave a genuine smile at that. Not a grin, not a cheeky look, but a full-blown, genuine smile. "That's one of the nicest things anyone, from any realm, has ever said to me, actually." Cassidy reached up, her hand touching the side of the monster's face, resting against the dark red skin. Her touch light, what could be considered soft, nothing like anyone from the shadow realm. Tonio blinked, staring at her in surprise as his hair tinted pink, his cheeks heating up when she touched his skin. "Heh... heheh..." It seemed the most he could manage now is a sheepish chuckle.

Cassidy smiled a little bit as she saw the real blush of the Monster, the darkening crimson on his cheek bones, not just the fiend's hair color changing, "You look nicer when you're honest." she said smiling.

He blinked, flushing even darker. "I-I... uhm... w-well, uh... th-thank you..." His hair was now the color of bubblegum as his cheeks went a beautiful shade of rose red. "I-I'll have to be honest more often..."

Cassidy smiled, and leaned forward to hug the fiend, even if his chest was too big to wrap her arms around, and the fadora hat was tilted up. Tonio was still rather red, but hugged her close to him as they sat there. He wasn't sure what else to say, but he didn't care. He loved the closeness, the ability to just sit and be loved, to an extent, by the human he believed himself to be the luckiest person alive, to have ever been in the deck of.

"...I'm glad I'm in your deck..."

The paper witch looked up with a smile, her chin on the monster's lower chest, "Its not much of a deck, but I'm glad you're with me too like the others."

Tonio laughed quietly. "But it's still a deck, is it not? So it still counts... I... I'm curious though..." He looked at her deck. "...what all is in there anyway?"

"Not many monsters that I'm linked to," Cassidy pointed at the table, "You can look. There's a lot of magic cards, Simon has been giving me some of his spares to support the three bigger monsters I have."

"Three... bigger monsters?" Tonio asked, blinking as he shifted and picked the deck up, eyeing it with curiosity. "What bigger monsters?"

Was that uncertainty in his voice? Perhaps fear he would be replaced?

"Um...those I've met in my dreams, I can't summon them yet," Cassidy started, "But they were nice, like Hadir."

"H-H-Hadir...?" Tonio sputtered, eyes widening with unease and fear. "A-as in... C-Celtic Guardian w-with a bad temper...? Th-that Hadir?"

"Bad temper?" Cassidy shifted to lean back and look up to see more of Tonio's face, "He's my only Celtic Guardian in the deck... but he's only ever been very sweet."

The fiend cringed. "Y-you... uh... clearly haven't met him on a bad day... h-he.. um... he's... not really friendly sometimes... n-not to me anyway... L-long story."

"Did you, do something Tonio?" Cassidy frowned up at her Monster, poking one of the battens on his chest. "Before? That's a reaction to something that happened." The Paper which, knowing the elf so far knew Hadir wasn't whole fond of other males in general, even other male elves.

"Whatever I did, it's definitely n-not worth all the hate he keeps th-throwing my general direction..." Tonio grumbled, shifting a little with uncertainty. "Only thing I can think of was one s-sabotage job, but I pulled out on that wh-when I saw what I was up against... ended up d-doing something else instead and claiming I finished the job... H-Hadir... he... he kinda hated me since that, I think..."

Sabotage?

Cassidy eyed the fiend, "What did you do instead? Was it in his forest?"

Tonio cringed, looking to the side as though scared to meet her gaze now. "I-I was supposed to burn his forest to the ground... th-that was the original job. H-he saw me trying to figure out wh-what to do and I kind of blurted what I was trying to do by accident... it... uh... all went downhill from there..." He nervously adjusted his jacket, or at least as best he could. "E-ended up quitting that a-and doing something else... I-I never even lit the torch though, h-honest!"

"Tonio..." Cassidy sat up, looking at the fiend as her eyes widened, "Are you the reason Hadir's old tree home fell down?"

The fiend sat there, suddenly rigid, his face and hair paling, his hair going pure white. "H-his... his home f-fell d-down? I-I... I didn't even s-set anything off! I-I may have tried a-a few tricks to escape, b-but I never...! N-nothing fell while I was there!"

Panic was obvious in his eyes as he looked frantically around just ahead of him, his gaze seeming to miss everything as he thought back on what happened. "... th-the torch... I-I... I dropped the torch... did... did it do something...? W-was it rigged? ... I-I should have found out more about that accursed thing b-before I even took it! I-it was rigged to set off regardless of if I f-failed or not!"

It seemed that this new revelation horrified him.

"What torch?" Cassidy moved out of the Monster's lap, standing before him and resting her hands on Tonio's shoulders. With him sitting she was just a smidgen taller like this, "Tonio!" She yelled, and once having his attention she pulsed her magic, "Deep breath. Take a deep breath, you're panicing and there's shadowns clinging to me now." She swallowed.

The Phantom winced, jolting back to the present and staring up at her with wide eyes. Shuddering, he flicked his fingers, forcing the shadows back away from her before struggling to snap his thoughts fully back into order. "A-a black torch... p-purple flames... made an eerie, hissing noise... l-laughter... it... I-it was almost sentient... y-yearned f-for destruction... wh-when Hadir showed up I-I panicked a-and just... j-just dropped it... it m-must've set off wh-while I was r-running for my life... I-I didn't mean t-to wreck his home, I-I swear... if I knew it would d-do that, I-I'd have taken it with me a-and just gotten rid of it s-some other way, h-honest!"

Cassidy shifted to shake her left leg, without a skirt on tonight she could clearly see the black tendril of a living Shadow- one that felt like it came from the fiend, "Tonio, his home wasn't whole destroyed- here get off you!" she paused to shake her leg again, "Could you take your shadow back?" The white magic caster sounded annoyed but not at Tonio, yet there was something that she knew.

The fiend bit his lip, though his gaze soon fixed on the offensive shadow and scowled. Reaching over, his gaze suddenly looking disturbingly violent, he seemed to dig his hand into it, fingers gripping the shadow tightly and jerking it back away from Cassidy's leg, a harmless action that barely could be felt by Cassidy, though the shadow itself seemed to be writhing in his hand. He promptly shoved it back into his own shadow before his expression and frame seemed to return to how it had been before.

"S-sorry, sometimes they... misbehave when I'm upset.." He shakily looked up at her again, all malice gone from his eyes as he watched her. "Wh-what had you been saying?"

The paper witch blinked a few times, taken a back but recovered, "Its, okay." Cassidy took a deep breath herself, "I talked to Hadir about this before, when he was here." She took her deck of cards from him, finding without looking almost the right card and turning it up to show the fiend. "It's easier to summon him, a little harder than my puppies but I can manage."

Tonio cringed back when he saw the card, as though expecting it to slap him. "Y-you... y-you're wh-what?! H-here?! W-with... m-me here? N-no way, th-that's a bad idea Dolly, h-he'll get mad and he'll start stabbing things, a-and it's just bad!"

Cassidy took the large hat off and used it to smack the monster before he scooted too far away, "'Here' as in this _realm_ in-general. Not 'Here' as in this instant. Breath. Tonio. I'm not stupid to summon Hadir right now!"

The fiend snapped out of it when he got smacked with his own hat. "R-right... sorry... just... sorry, I... well... um... a-anyway... c-can I have my hat please?"

"No. Its mine right now," It was put back on, "But I'm calling help." She flicked out another card, Shadows and White Magic shivered but Monster was being summoned before Tonio could protest.

The black shadow rose out of the ground as the form took shape, and then gave a light howling. The dire wolf sized Monster shook out its grey-white fur, looking around, freezing as it spotted Tonio. As it stared baring fangs it caught his scent and paused, then relaxed as a large doggy-grin formed before the Silver Fang pounced, flopping boddily over the fiend with a wagging tail.

Tonio opened his mouth to protest the moment she finished speaking, but before he had a chance, she'd already made the summon. "For the love of-" He blinked, cutting himself off as he stared at the creature. Cringing when it growled, he had a moment of confusion as it relaxed. A comical squawk escaped him as he got pounced, soon finding himself flat on the floor, staring up at the rather happy wolf, "...hi?"

The silver fang woofed softly, its chest vibrating before it started licking at the fiend. Knowing him from the game of chase, and from being in the same deck.

"Puppy!" Cassidy announced from the other side of the wall of fur, "Puppies make everything better." she added, not at all bothered that this 'puppy' was as big as a horse almost, and had canine fangs as big as a human hand.

Tonio coughed, sputtering humorously as he tried - and failed - to turn his face away from the beast, "Y-yes yes, hello there!" He spluttered out, unable to do much other than laugh thanks to the situation, "H-having fun?" He added to Cassidy. "D-Dolly you planned this didn't you?"

The human clicked as she came around, opening her arms to let the giant wolf put its face against her next, hugging its large head and muzzle while the tail started to beat faster at getting personal attention from its mistress. "No, but he's a big puppy to help aren't you?"

The Silver fang huffed in agreement, eyes closed in bliss.

Tonio sat up, wiping wolf spit off his face and making a rather comical expression as he remarked. "Well at least you never need a face cloth again. With that wolf around, at least..."

"He's not as bad as a she-wolf I have." Cassidy said, looking at the fiend who still hand the large wolf's forelegs over his lap, "But my puppy got you to stop freaking out and stuttering."

"At least there's that..." Tonio remarked awkwardly, brushing himself off and sighing a little. "Even still though, you just about gave me a heart attack when you summoned him, Dolly."

The Silver Fang huffed at Tonio next, seemingly proud that he did this.

"Well, it shocked you out of it." Cassidy defended. "Like I said, I'm not stupid to summon Hadir- he'd also make the fire witch come investigate. They're used to me calling one of my puppies now but not other monsters."

Tonio thought that over before blinking. "I... I'm not gonna get you in trouble for being here, am I? You technically didn't summon me, but..."

"No, you won't," Cassidy shook her head, "The Guard witch on duty, if she checked in and thought you a danger she would have long since been here with fireballs. But Pappy here, he's been with me in night shifts before, so he's meet the different guards of the archives. As much as my puppies need to know who's scent is normal, as the guards need to know the giant wolf thing is peaceful to me."

Tonio sighed in relief at that. "Thank goodness... the last thing I need is for another of my suits to end up on fire. The last five were expensive enough to replace... ehm... also long stories."

"...Pappy?" Cassidy asked, after a long moment of staring at the red skinned Monster, turning to her wolf and holding his head between her hands, the large silver eyes blinked back at her. "I know you're not in a pack right now, would you please make sure Tonio is safe from now on?" she addressed the wolf.

The silver Fang, 'Pappy,' barked softly and rumbling out a long promising growl.

Tonio blinked at this, staring for a moment before shaking his head. "No, no no not a need to worry about Dolly, honest. That was back before I started cleaning up my act... okay one was a few weeks ago, but that's beside the point. Besides, I don't want to get your wolf into trouble."

The Silver Fang flattened an ear, lifting his large head up out of the human's hold to level a look at the fiend, then shifted around so his forelegs and paws wrapped around the phantom.

Needless to say, the phantom was not predicting this, and made a hilarious 'erk' noise when it happened. "I'm not winning this argument am I..."

"Noope."

" _Woof_."

"Damn." Tonio sighed as he thought it over. "Well... could be worse I guess... at least I know you two care about what kind of situations I get stuck in."

"I care very much, you're my friend Tonio." Cassidy said, pulling a small towel out of her bag on the table- she had started carrying one now after getting the hang of summoning her wolves. The mortal caster moved around the large lupin head to dry off Tonio's face for him, her dark eyes soft, "And you're becoming apart of the family now."

- _Pack_.- the Silver Fang said through the shadows, though only the fiend heard it.

Tonio's whole frame went rigid as she said that, his eyes widening in alarm and face paling at her words. "...N-no. Y-you don't want that. Trust me, y-you don't want that..." It was unclear who he was talking to, if not outright talking to both of them.

- _Pack_.- the wolf said again firmly, eyeing Tonio again, - _You. Pack. She pack head._ -

Tonio adamantly shook his head to the wolf. "I-I said no. It's... it's not good. I'm too dangerous. Y-you don't want that."

"Tonio." Cassidy said, the lightness fading as she frowned, reaching out to try and turn the fiend's head, looking him in those black eyes. "We're connected now, surely you know this? No matter how new I am to shadow magic- or even if I were to never summon again, or touch a living Shadow, or the cards ever again, links have been formed. I'm as much connected to you as Hadir, Jaffa, Crimson, Aurum or any of my puppies. You're monsters linked to magic-user, I know I can't break those threads unless I die."

Tonio cringed again. "Th-that's what I'm most afraid of..." He said weakly. "...you...you dying. I don't want to be the reason." He closed his eyes, sighing faintly and seeming to murmur under his breath something along the lines of 'not again'.

Cassidy's eyes softened, shifting her hands so they were on the red cheeks, they felt warm from something other than body heat. "Phantom, look at me," Cassidy waited until she saw the obsidian gaze again, "I'm a _magic user_ , a white witch yes but still a _witch_. What's more I'm, and I know this without exaggerating, a very low level one. But even then, there is still an inherent danger of using magic, white, shadow, or black magics all have a risk. Some grater maybe... but I chose to become a magic user, I chose to touch the first thread in the cards Simon handed me." She paused to take a take a breath, and smiled as she took off the too large hat looking down at it before looking up at him, "And I remember earlier, how you not even knowing what the Dark Hunters were, you were ready to defend. I saw that reflex. I know you're not inherently a bad person."

It took Tonio several seconds before he looked up at her again, shivering as he watched her, listening in silence. "I... I-I..." He sighed quietly, hesitating before managing somehow to pull her closer and hug her. "J-just be careful, okay? Please? I... nevermind. Just be careful, alright? For my sanity's sake?"

"I'm generally not stupid Tonio," Cassidy said, feeling the large wolf move back to lay behind the Monster in the suit. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged as tight as she could, "I know my limits in this world magicly, I can hold a barrier and shields. But I always try to be careful I know there's a lot of scary things out in this world and others."

He nodded a little before throwing caution to the wind, scooping her up again and holding her in his lap, just hugging her and taking in the feel of her being close. A long, slow breath was drawn and released, his frame slowly relaxing as he said softly. "I... I swear, no matter what happens, be it this life or the next, I will do everything in and beyond my power to protect you... I... I'll die before you can be touched. That... that's just it."

"I don't want you to die Tonio." Cassidy said from under his chin and against the monster's chest, cuddling close as her voice wavered a little. "Please don't."

"Don't give me a reason to, and I won't ever leave." Tonio said quietly, blinking as he realized that he was once again toying with her hair. "...heh... soft... Really soft... I like your hair..."

" _Plpl_ ," the woman razzed, looking up and then down, she pulled some of her hair around, working out a charm from being tangled in the dark strains. Then rose up in the phantom's lap to attach it to Tonio's hair, placing his hat loosely over top, "...I don't want to."

Tonio blinked at this action, but smiled at her all the same, his dark eyes soft and holding that genuine, honest care, much like they did before for a brief time. "Good. You not wanting to die is an important part of life. Ten out of ten recommend not wanting to die."

"I'll take those recommendations then." the woman smiled back, and sighed, looking back at her deck sitting on the floor she chuckled.

The fiend smiled at her before blinking in curiosity as she looked back at the desk. "Huh? What's up, Dolly?"

"I was trying to tell you before, that Hadir's tree was his temporary home while he built and worked with another tree to live inside it." Cassidy said, turning up the elven card to look at it, "He said after he caught a trespassing monster, he chased it off but came back to find a group trying to use a dark scepter. He was more annoyed he had to go to someone called 'The Dark One' to get rid it, and finding that that group came back with axes. I think he likes scaring males Tonio, you may have been giving him more entertainment then him feeling malice to you."

Tonio blinked at this, listening to what she said before staring at her in surprise. "W-wait... he... that was all... he just... I... you mean he's not really out to gut me?"

"He acted like my oven offended him," Cassidy paused and added, "I would hazard there's a likely chance he's not."

Tonio blinked, staring in surprise. "Wait he... your... your oven? What in the world would make him act like that about THAT? Ovens are useful!"

"It IS new." Cassidy huffed, "Magic, tonio, maaaagic..." she waved her hands.

Tonio shook his head at this news. "Remind me never to use your grandmother's kitchen, even if I'm starving, okay Dolly?"

"Don't worry, mine's safe, I don't use magic when cooking," mostly that was, Cassidy smiled up at him before shiting to look back at hearing movement, the Silver Fang was rolling over on the ground, streaching out his legs and yawning.

"Eh?" The Phantom looked behind him, laughing quietly at the wolf's adjustment. "Think he's comfortable yet?" He paused and continued, "As for the kitchen, that's a good thing. Cooking with magic tends to be scary."

"How long can you stay here?" Cassidy asked, watching the pale wolf roll half onto his side, head tilting to regard the two upside down.

"That... is a good question actually." Tonio remarked, blinking and looking down at himself as if to see how many shadows were covering him. "Only done this twice before now, so got no idea how long..."

"Don't push yourself," Cassidy worried, as she couldn't see many shadows, but she was tired now, "...you said you had a house?" The mortal witch asked after a minute, looking up, "What's it like?"

"It's... kind of small to be honest. Enough room for me and one other person if need be, but not that big. Actually it's more like an apartment if anything."

"Sounds like my place," Cassidy said, shifting to touch the monster's hair in return, where the small charm was before getting up and moving to stand beside Tonio, moving his hat to start doing something to his hair.

"I've never actually seen your place." The fiend confessed. "But if it's anything like mine, your place is kinda tiny." He blinked as he felt her playing with his hair. "What are you doing?"

"Making this better so the charm stays," the woman said, her fingers moving deftly to make the thin but just wide enough braid, and tightening it carefully that the weave would hold the charm. It was just out of the phantom's bangs and before the pointed ear, to stay out of the way.

"Ah. Well do as you see best then, Dolly." He smiled happily at her before blinking and glancing down at himself again, pouting mildly when he saw the shadows were starting to creep up his legs, the tell-tale sign his time was running short. "Aw crap..."

"Shadow realm?" Cassidy guessed, pausing as she pulled a small rubber band out of her pocket. She looked over at the Silver Fang as he huffed, "ohh... I'm loosing my grip on him too." She used the tiny band to tie off the braid.

"Yes, and oh how I love it..." Tonio grumbled sarcastically. "Oh well though, at least I can visit you now, right? That's always a fun thing, as long as my timing is good." The shadows were now reaching up around his thighs, and his vague attempt to swat them away did nothing to dissuade them.

"Is there a way you can give a warning?" Cassidy asked, thinking of her grandmother, and the guard witches.

"I can probably figure out a way to send a pulse through the connection or something." He replied, thinking it over. "I'll come up with something."

On an impulse, before the phantom left, as now Cassidy caught glimpses of the shadows on him, she reached out. Wrapping her arms around Tonio's neck again from the side and, this time, it was her who kissed the red colored cheek, just under the rise of his cheekbone.

If ever his hair were to change shades, now it went as pink as pink could get. Sputtering cutely, he stared for a moment before hugging her back, holding her close for a moment before, as no man leaves a gift unrewarded, returning the favor and kissing her cheek as well. "You're too nice to me, Cass." He said quietly to her. "And I love every moment of it. See you again soon, okay?"

"Be safe you fiend." the woman said, hugging close before the solid muscled form started to fade and Cassidy shifted back so not to fall. "Let me talk to Hadir first too." she added just in case.

"By all means, if it keeps the peace, deal with him." Tonio remarked, reluctantly letting go of her, just in case. "The last thing I need is for Hadir to try and stab me for some reason..." He looked at her and smiled, even as the shadows crept up over his chest, licking at the base of his neck. "I'll be as safe as I can, Dolly, you can be certain of that. As long as you don't get into trouble, I'll be a good fiend and behave."

" _Woof_ ," the Silver Fang put in as it rolled over, and leaned closer to bite a shadow on Tonio, able to go back with him now.

The fiend blinked and glanced back at him as he did this, lazily holding his hand out and summoning his cane to himself as he remarked to the wolf. "Tagging along for the ride, eh? Well by all means go ahead; not like we have to pay for this."

He then looked back at Cassidy, thinking a moment before, mere moments prior to the shadows consuming him, flashing her one last, genuine and honest smile, his eyes holding a glee that hadn't yet been there before. Was that hope?

Whatever it was, Tonio had dipped his head shortly after in a nod, tilting his hat down as the shadows enveloped him completely. Seconds later, he and the wolf had vanished, leaving Cassidy in the library, as though nothing had even happened. The caster, with a feeling of déjà vu, dropped down to sit on the floor and pulled up her knees to hug them.

She looked around at hearing footsteps a few minutes later, seeing the guard witch of the night for the archives as the taller woman knocked her knuckles on a table. "Sorry if we disturbed your rounds Morgan."

"Its okay Cassy." The fire witch said as she moved over and sat with Cassidy, "Didn't think I should have gotten involved after seeing you were safe with him." there was a pause before, "So... that was one of the monsters linked to you now?"

"Yeah," Cassidy nodded almost shyly as she thought of the eight foot tall phantom.

"...so...you still want to move in with me and make a coven?"


End file.
